Hawk Roosting Argumentative Essay Example

hawk, giving its perfect structure and deadly kills, making the hawk appears to be as powerful and mighty as the God that made him. “It took the whole of Creation/To produce my foot, my each feather. suggests that a lot of effort is used in making the hawk and every detail is perfect and beautiful. However the hawk seems to be arrogant and proud, it knows that it is the most superior beings now and it can do whatever it wanted because nothing can stop or control him.

“I kill when I please because it is all mine” shows that the hawk is very confident and proud of its power by killing anything at anytime. Hence giving the readers a ruthless feeling as the hawk can cause death and destruction just because it had the power and authority to do so.Personification is used by showing the hawk has manners, which is a human quality. “My manners are tearing off heads. ” This is used to show that the hawk is now on an equal level as humans and how much power it holds and making the reader feel intimidated by the hawk even though it is merely a creature which acts with so much superiority and power yet we are the humans who supposedly control this world.

The speakers used pun in the last stanza when he described “the sun is behind me”, the sun can be directly behind the hawk but it can also be supporting the hawk from behind.This suggests that the hawk is very determined and confident as even the source of life; the sun is supporting it and encouraging the hawk.

The line further brings out a sense of determination and arrogance when the hawk said “I am going to keep things like this”, the tone is strong and influential, almost making the readers believe that the hawk has the power to change the world. The hawk is being metaphorically compared to a human in this poem.

Juxtaposition used in the first stanza compares two ideas when the hawk is resting and when it is hunting down its prey. I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed” and “Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat. ”It contrasts two different atmospheres; one is serene and peaceful while the other is chaotic and bloody. It emphasises on two sides of the hawk, one when it is calm and when it is cruel when making its kill. This shows that the hawk is very cold-blooded and it seems to be numb to killing as it is its second nature, it is build to kill and eat. Also, the hawk also does it matter of fatly, it does not feel the consequences when it comes to taking lives as long as it can stay alive.

It is the same as humans; we are all two-sided creatures and we only do things that benefit us, without taking other people’s feelings into consideration. We can fake our feelings in front of the person we hate by being all friendly and innocent, but back-stabbing them when they are inconspicuous of our true motive. We have the ability to hurt others and we will not hesitate to use it for personal revenge or even for pure enjoyment. So basically humans have

the same nature as the hawk, which is to cause suffering and destruction.The irony used in the third stanza, when the hawk said “Now I hold Creation in my foot”. At first it was God who created the hawk, but now, it is the other way round as the hawk is betraying its creator when it has gain enough power to do so.

It is like the same with humans, did we ever not turn our head back to our beneficiaries? We had, indeed, taken everything around us for granted. Nature had created us, but now we are destroying our Mother Nature, we exploit the trees and the air all around us. When we became more advanced, we started making use of the rich resources nature provided us with.It is like the same with the hawk, who had power over the creation that made it and humans exploiting nature that provided us with resources that sustain our survival. The hawk is able to kill can cause deaths to happen at its will. Once it had decided on the death of a particular being, it is almost impossible to change its mind.

“The allotment of death/For the one path of my flight is direct” indicates that the hawk determines who lives and who dies. Humans, too, do the same thing. With our so-called laws and judgments, we can easily sentence someone death and it is impossible to overcome the laws when it is final.The innocent may be called guilty while the criminal escapes guilt free, this is the power of our law.

Those with authority can misuse it, leading to more and more destruction, just like

the hawk, using its powers to kill as it please. All in all, the speaker used a wide range of literary devices to bring out the nature of the hawk by telling the poem in the hawk’s perspective. By comparing the hawk to humans, it makes the readers reflect upon our actions and be remorseful as we think about our actions and wonder if our true nature is cruel and cold too.